A picture is worth a thousand buses (and autos)

On the day the city bus terminal at “Majestic”, aka Kempe Gowda bus station, at Subhashnagar in Bangalore wore what tomorrow morning’s newspapers will call a “deserted look”, autorickshaws whizzed around K.R. Market as if they owned the roads, all thanks to the strike by KSRTC employees demanding a hike in wage.

13 Responses to “A picture is worth a thousand buses (and autos)”

what is wrong with these BMTC, KSRTC and the auto drivers i don’t understand.

when I was young these drivers and conductors were considered goons. once i was pushed by a conductor to go at front when i was very young.
in another instance a bus almost ran over car i was driving and then was not at all accepting it was his fault, infact started howling at me.

auto drivers – everyone know them . they always charge more than meter.

even if we consider them to come from lowest strata of society when are they going to follow a minimum decency?

They are tormentors to most middle classers giving them the first hand service of government -looting them with ‘no chillare’ , ‘no ticket’ , ‘no night bus’ even after getting paid highest in southern states,

I am for complete ban of auto rickshaws from city once metro is fully operational.

>I am for complete ban of auto rickshaws from city once metro is fully operational.

Who will provide the last mile service? by any chance are you related to Justice Saldhana?

>They are tormentors to most middle classers

Bangalore middle class has deserted BMTC. Bangalore Middle class has almost completely stopped non health/exercise/recreation related walking. I think we should all stop our daily walks/runs in parks/treadmills and start utilizing the same time productively to reach our offices by a combination of walk – bus ride- walk…..

Though I hate autos and auto drivers as much as anyone else, they are unfortunately indispensable. I would very much like to see autos replaced by some other kind of last-mile transport though. Maybe a nano taxi kind of thing.

Even if the drivers remain of the same category (overcharging etc.), at the very least, we will get rid of the noise and pollution and discomfort of autos. And small cars will improve the road discipline manifold, since they cannot be squeezed and misused like autos.

When it comes to auto drivers we all come under one umbrella in getting against them. For an instance let us think like this- An auto driver asks for Rs 10 more than what is being displayed in the meter and that too under circumstances. I guess if we piad Rs 20 more in that instance they would stop asking for more. After all don’t we pay 4-10% tips in a five star hotel without the bearer demanding anything. Can’t we tip our hard working friends who work “Aharnisham” to reach our doorstep.

In Bangalore, the situation is that you need to be lucky to get an auto driver to take you where you want to go. In all other nations, the customer gets into the taxi, sits comfortably, and then tells the driver where he needs to go. In Bangalore (India actually), we stand on the footpath, requesting the auto driver to “please take us to X, Y or Z place”.

Hard working friends? Really? The problem is, they want to earn the money they do, making 3-4 trips per day and overcharging each customer, rather than making 10 trips and charging the right amount each time. Hardly “hard working”.

Not to mention the fact that they are the most unruly, rude and uncouth drivers on the road – of course, call center cabs give them tough competition for that title, but no one can beat these autos in squeezing and maneuvering like maniacs.

They do not ask for “10 more than meter, that too under circumstances”. No one would even speak of the problem if it was that minor. That is hardly the behaviour of the average autowallah.

Of late, I have been having better experiences with Autos in Bangalore compared to, say, 10 years back and all.

I would rate them 7/10 on recent experiences.

I think it is mainly because of
1. Volvo buses. IT people don’t go to areas like Whitefield/E-City by autos anymore.
2. Prepaid counters in City/Cantt station provide decent services.
3. Lots of “middle-class” people have graduated to own cars.
4. Fixed rate ( though on the high side ) call taxis have mushroomed.
I wonder if autos still make such a good business?